Reviews by BeardedBoffin:

Imperial Helles, isn't that an oxymoron? In any case, Krampus appears a dark amber color with a nice cap of foam which clings to glass as the liquid interface falls. The aroma is a nice balance of caramel and lemony hops. The alcohol opens the senses. Surprisingly carbonated, almost prickly, on the palate. The malt notes (bread, biscuit, and dark fruit) are briskly swept away as the hops takes over. Resinous pine, grapefruit, old fashion bitterness and a wave of booze finish this off in a big dollop of hops. A nice brew that invites the drinker to have more. I don't know if I would call this a Helles, but it is good.

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My taste buds get their feelings hurt when I read the terms "imperial" and "helles" in the same title. It's not clever, it's the flavor equivlent of using double negatives in fine literary works.

Krampus has a darker-than-expected golden color with mild haze. A froathy white head caps the beer and allows spotty lace with good retention.

Jumping out immediately is the high hopping rates that provide a sharply citric and spicy earth aroma, taste, and bitterness. Supportive malts seem deeply caramelized and give nearly as much Pale Ale character as that of Pilsner. Bread crust and light yeasty taste provide slight apple-like esters and sulfur character that adds a bit of zest to usher in a semi-dry malt finish with 9% warmth and a minty-cool taste and texture.

Where Imperialized Pilsners usually don't settle particularly well with me, the added caramel and bread crust flavor supports the assertive hop additions very well, allowing me to read the flavor and balance of IPAs moreso than a big Pilsner. Just don't make me read the self-promoted label again.

Appearance: Pours a bright golden orange with a moderate amount of bubbles. Solid finger of off white head which settles into a thin creamy layer. Leaves a good amount of lacing.

Smell: A crisp, earthy, and floral balanced aroma of bitter hops and sweet malt. Upfront presence of floral and earthy hops with good hints of pine resin and grass. Also some citrus hints of orange and lemon zest. Big malt presence with hints of grains, straw, cracker, and lager yeast. Some apple like hints as well. A pretty good aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, an earthy, floral, and spicy hoppy taste with a good sweet malt balance. Big presence of earthy and floral hops with some upfront notes of pine resin, grass, and spice. Citrus hop notes of orange peel and lemon zest. Also some apple notes. Big pale malt presence with notes of straw, grains, cracker, and lager yeast. A really solid taste.

Mouthfeel: Fairly full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Spicy, juicy, and fairly oily with a drying finish. Alcohol heat is minimal.

Overall: A very good hopped up spin on an Imperial Helles Lager. Starts very hop forward but the lager element isn’t lost.

From tasting notes... Enjoyed on tap at Benno's Christmas Party. This was a 10 oz tapper.

A) Golden amber with a festive shimmer to it. Not much head, just a little collar. No lacing noted.

S) Decent balance with the aroma. Started with some malty sweetness. Light caramel, a little yellow cake. The hops is a hint of citrus, but more earthy and floral.

T) Lightly roasted malt and plenty of hops. A little lemon zest, grapefruit, pine and grass. Good balance, but a little more hop forward from a flavor standpoint. I can't believe this is 9% ABV here... Very well hidden...

M) This was a full bodied brew. The carbonation is pretty soft. It's fairly smooth, and a bit sticky. It was my second beer of the evening, and it went down with ease.

O) Never had an Imperial Helles before, but I really enjoyed this. Excellent drinkability in my opinion. Maybe Krampus can pay my kids a little visit, and tell them to knock off the bullshit when dad's trying to watch football.

Poured into a pilsner glass a slight hazed medium to full golden with a large foamy white head that took forever to settle.Love the aromas,full on citric and spicy chinook hops with a big caramel malt note.Flavors are big citric and herbal/spice up frotn with some big caramel sweetness with a touch of honey,as the beer warms the alcohol zing really comes thru more.Its a little heavy and the alcohol does creep but its tasty.

Totally not true to the style and although I liked this beer it just leaves me wondering why a beer of this style is made.

A - Completely clear and bright. Moderate carbonation with a nice creamy white head that fades to a persistent covering while leaving a good deal of lacing.

S - Earthy hop, light caramel malts, and some toasted bread notes.

T - Very hop forward but in a balanced way, the bitterness persists throughout in a nice even manner to the finish. Very clean malt flavors, lots of malt depth and toastiness from the Munich malt. Finishes with some alcohol.

M - Moderate body, smooth feeling, some dextrins in there coat the mouth. Some alcohol warmth at the end.

D - Big beer, with smooth and balanced flavors. Drinks like an IPA in hopiness, but the malt character of a Maibock.

I've enjoyed all the Southern Tier products I've tried, but this one just didn't do it for me. In my pilsener glass the beer was an amber color with a thick white head that quickly dissipated. The aroma confused me a little: malt, fruit, and spice that didn't go well together. Same thing with the taste. I thought the beer was overly spiced, and not terribly enjoyable.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a pilsener glass.

Appearance: The body had a good dark golden amber color with very good clarity. It also had some slow moving, small carbonation bubbles that make there way up the glass to the lovely creamy colored head. The head was of average size, had very good retention and made lots of cool lacing on the glass.

Smell: Its aroma had an assertive heavy and sweet character along with a strong hit of floral hops and just a touch of lemony citrus as well.

Taste/Mouth feel: The flavor like its aroma is big, bold and full bodied. Big floral and slightly citrusy hops mix with an equally big malty body that shows its 9% alcohol. The finish is slow with hop bitterness hanging on to the tongue. Its texture is slick, smooth, a bit thick, well rounded and slow sipping.

Pours a gluggily clear, bright amber color with a big creamy head that goes nowhere. Great lacing. Smells like a delicious IPA. HUGE on citrus and piny hop aromas and sweet malt and a touch of white pepper, even lemons and bits of ginger. Taste is more hops. Extremely hoppy, in fact. Big citrus and tons of pine flavor, some earthy notes, crazy astringent bitter finish. Fantastic malt bill gving a sweet backbone to balance off the insane hoppiness. Its almost like an even hoppier/bitter DFH 90-minute IPA. Leaning towards a heavy body and dry finish. Extremely crisp. Burping up pine cones. Demolished palate. Blindfolded, Id say this is one of the best DIPAs I have ever had. SICK beer.

22oz brown bomber with no freshness date. Love the theme of having Santa's opposite, getting a lump of coal sounds good compared to what Krampus was capable of doing.

Dense two fingers of head leaves a nice rim of lace on the glass. Bright amber color. Big juicy aroma of pungent hops that run form wild flowers to grapefruit rind, some caramel maltiness make it to the nose as well. A think beer with a mild smoothness. Huge wad of hoppiness on the palate, not a bitter as I anticipated but certainly more than enough to overcome the brawny malt character. Hop flavor lends suggestions of hemp seed oil, grapefruit rind and spearmint. The alcohol is warming but does not flash 9.0% anywhere. Maltiness comes in first with a toasted, almost biscuit flavor then broadens to more of a caramel sweetness until the hops in the finish flatten most of that down. Finishes hoppy and a little sweet.

Its not the alcohol that makes this a sipper, its the sheer amount of hop flavor and a good amount of malt crammed into this beer. Your taste buds can only handle so much but I love that beers like this are pushing the limits.

22 ouncer, w/o freshness/vintage/bottling info. Pours clear, very clear, cap of eggshell, frothy foam, dissolving to a collar and leaving fine, plentiful and scattered lace. Fresh minty nose, also hints of alcohol, perfume and more cool mint. Thick, thick stuff, with a nice velvety mouth feel. Flavors here are all over the place mint, perfume, alcohol, piney hops in full force and biting, I even get some mild hot sauce notes. I like just about every SN offering, and appreciate their adventurous attitude, but I doubt I would go for this one again real soon...

Drinkability: Very good for the style. I would have only one due to the high abv, but would want one more in the season..not a case. The hop mix is strong, but not overpowering. This was a nice surprise.